Our Tainted Dream

Eighteen: This Is A Nightmare

One drop of blood, one drop of tear.

Usually I would see a blinding light; but now all I see is darkness. Only a thin path shows before me, a child's laughter at the end of it.

Not long after the laughter is replaced with a cry. Recognizing the voice, I start walking. The pace was slow at first, until he screams and I start to run.

I run and run until the next thing I realize, I'm falling. I'm falling.

I land with a soft thud, under something warm. Something wet and warm. I jump to my feet as I see the pool of blood beneath me, falling once more due to my trembling legs.

The darkness bleeds, only the vivid red blood glimmer from the dim light. No longer can I see the pathway; no longer can I hear the cry.

"Hello." A small voice calls, making me whip my head towards the direction.

"Now you should leave."

The child smiles, his brown hair messy and his eyes crystal blue, no taller than a few feet. "Y-you—reall-ly s-shoul—d l-e-leav-e."

The small Reid I used to be glitches and twitches, his head twisting in some sort of way no normal human being should. His eyes fall out of his sockets, little cuts forming in his wrists as blood splatters from his back.

Then slowly, he grows older. The next thing I know I'm staring at myself. It's a horrible sight. My eyes are gone, replaced with copper ones. Even then they fall out, leaving him—me—crying eyeless bloody tears, vivid red trickling down what seems like a cut tongue.

It sends me to the edge where I am too terrified to move, not before a hand grabs my shoulders. And when I turn, I wish I could turn back the clock and undo my life choices.

"H-he-llo- m-my sm-aa—all—bea-ean" Mum talks like a computer, a robotic existence rusting. But she is worse. Her eyes are pushed in rather than missing, leaving her eyeballs mushed in her sockets. Her chest still bleeds from the open wound, and her neck makes everything worse, twisted like small Reid, but worse. Broken.

My words are scattered, and I can't even summon the courage to call her name. My throat burns though there are no tears. It's almost like she's choking me from the inside.

"Ar-aren-'tt—y-you-g-goi-ng—t-tto say h—hi-i-t-to—y-y—you-r m-mo-th-ther?" But I can only whisper an apology, lips trembling as I try to stand, miserably failing no matter how much I want to run.

It's only a nightmare. I tell myself. Only a nightmare. But I can't breathe.

"W-wh—at a ba-ad ch-il-d—chi-ld." Another needle to the heart. "I-I'm so so sorry—" I gasp out, the pressure at my throat tighter and tighter.

Her neck twists and her chin faces the sky, her hair hanging like she's upside down. "M-mayy-b-be –y-yo---your f-fath-er w-a—ss—was-ri-right—" No, no. Don't say that I beg you.

A slap brings me back to reality, making my eyes flutter open, blinded by the sudden light. Though I wasn't crying in the dream, my cheeks are definitely stained with tears.

Father stands before me, his vivid green eyes staring into mine. My cheek stings from his hard slap. I'm glad it's not a back hand.

"What was that shit?" He growls, crouching down. "Can't you shut up for one minute, hmm? Do you really have to squirm that much in your sleep?"

My breaths are shaky as I exhale, heart pounding in my ears. "F-forgive me." I stutter, still terrified from the nightmare invading my sleep. Kei looks at me in concern, eyebrows raised and head tilted. "What is it? Nightmares?"